Boys soccer: Ben Gamino’s hat trick leads Plainfield South past Yorkville

YORKVILLE – It wasn’t so much a schematic change that Plainfield South boys soccer coach Nick Skrip wanted from his team at halftime Monday in a Southwest Prairie Conference matchup with Yorkville.

It was more of an attitude adjustment.

The Cougars (2-2) trailed the Foxes, 1-0, at halftime, despite maintaining control of the ball and the match for most of the first half. Yorkville’s Lukas Kleronomos scored 1:38 into the contest, placing a shot from about 20 yards out into the top left corner of the goal. For the rest of the first half, South threatened, putting a few shots on goal, but mostly getting thwarted by the Yorkville back line of Noe Fletes, Isaac Ferrer, Eliot Goodwin and Logan Brusak.

“We changed our mentality,” Skrip said. “We were getting pushes, but we didn’t seem that desperate to score goals. When we were down at halftime, we needed to get more desperate.”

The Cougars – Ben Gamino in particular – got the message loud and clear.

Gamino scored all three goals of the second half to lead the Cougars to a 3-1 win.

“We knew we were going to score,” Gamino said. “Especially with the way we played the first half. The only change we made in the second half was our mentality. That was the biggest change.

“We were down 1-0, but we kept our heads u,p and we knew we were still in the game. The defense and midfielders did a great job of keeping them at one goal.”

Less than five minutes into the second half, South’s David Sanchez launched a shot that was blocked by Yorkville goalkeeper Harrison DeLarber. The ball rebounded back into the field of play, and Gamino was there to put it in the back of the net to tie it at 1-1 with 35:41 to play.

South continued to keep the pressure on the Yorkville defense, but the Foxes (1-3) turned back several Cougars attacks.

That is until Abe Mensah broke free up the left side and hit Gamino in the middle with a pretty pass. Gamino did the rest, and South took a 2-1 lead with 4:29 to play. Then, with 46 seconds left, Sanchez booted the ball from midfield, and Gamino outran his defender and put in his third goal.

“David Sanchez makes a lot happen,” Skrip said. “And Ben, even though this is his first year at South, has a good chemistry with David and steps up for the team. That’s why they were captains for this match.

“It was tough going for us. Yorkville’s defenders played a great game.”

Yorkville coach Chris Palmisano also had high praise for his defense.

“Our defense is pretty solid,” he said. “We really grind it out back there. We struggled tonight in the midfield and had some turnovers that hurt. Plainfield South is a good program, and Kevin is doing a good job with them. They kept the pressure on us, and eventually, that takes its toll.

“We need to do better with the ball in the midfield and on offense, but with our defense, we will always be in games.”